Master of Your Strategy

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Master of Your Strategy

             Gambling strategies come in all forms.  For most table games, it is usually a set of rules in English.  For Three Card Poker, it is a single simple sentence - Play with Q-6-4 or better.  Four Card Poker strategy is a bit more complex, but can also be simplified to Betting 3x when your hand is of a certain rank, Folding when it is below a certain rank and Betting 1x for everything in between.  A game like Ultimate Texas Hold'em has far more complex strategy, but again, it comes down to betting based on the strength of the hand.

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Introduction to Strategy Tables

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Introduction to Strategy Tables

       Recently, I explained a bit about the 32 different ways that a video poker hand can be played.  This accounts for all the different ways a Player can discard 0 to 5 cards from a five card deal.  Each of these 32 ways is assigned an expected value by looking at every possible draw for that discard combination.  Whichever of these 32 ways has the highest expected value is the right way to play the hand.

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Not Quite Perfect

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Not Quite Perfect

 This week, I received an e-mail from a reader looking for the strategy for Triple Double Bonus Poker.  My home grown programs do not handle the 'kicker' situation for games like Double Double or Triple Double Bonus Poker, so I could not provide it to him.  If he insists on playing it without the totally correct strategy, his best bet would be to use Double Double Bonus strategy for the most similar paytable as the Triple Double Bonus.  Don't get me wrong, I don't recommend just using whatever is the next best paytable.  Sometimes, the impact may be slight, but other times it might be far more significant.

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Introduction to Strategy Tables

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Introduction to Strategy Tables

   In last week's column, I explained how a bit about the 32 different ways that a video poker hand can be played.  This accounts for all the different ways a Player can discard 0 to 5 cards from a five card deal.  Each of these 32 ways is assigned an expected value by looking at every possible draw for that discard combination.  Whichever of these 32 ways has the highest expected value is the right way to play the hand.

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It All Ends with a Razgu

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We're down to the final hands on the strategy table.  For the past several weeks, I have been slowly walking through the strategy for full-pay jacks or better video poker.  Along the way, I've been doing my best to provide insights to help you both understand the table and understand the WHY behind the table.  So, without further ado, I bring you the final five entries on the strategy table:

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